CSA recommendation and questions

I am a single person living alone but am interested in signing up for a CSA, I was wondering if anyone had recommendations as to a good CSA to sign up with. Right now, I am deciding between Two Small Farms and Eatwell Farm. Two Small Farms is cheaper, but Eatwell gives you the option of picking up every other week instead of every week. Since I will be mainly cooking for myself, would a box of produce from either of these CSAs be too much for me to eat in a week? How much food is included per box?

I have done two small farms for 7 years. Love them! The produce is fantastic and generally good variety. I eat tons of veggies so I can go through a box, but most normal people will need to share a box. If you look on their website they have an archive for "What's in This weeks box." In general salad mix is a produce bag very full, cooking greens is one largish bunch, tomatoes - a paper lunch bag full, lettuce - 1 large or 2 small heads. That might give you an idea of the quantity.

My husband and I do Eatwell Farms and haven't been disappointed. It's a great farm to support and i LOVE their summer fruits. We actually do every other week and we still have leftover, but I'm not going to lie we also like to eat out a lot. We love our eggs as well from Eatwell. I'd recommend it - and since it's just you I'd say every other week as well. Eatwell also has "this weeks' box" on their website....

I also subscribe to Eatwell Farms and love it. I eat a lot of veggies so a delivery every other week and half a dozen eggs are more than enough for one person. If you love fruit like I do though, you might have to supplement with a little more shopping. Eatwell also has a trial offer.

I used to be an Eatwell subscriber, but switched because there was too much spoilage in my basket and I felt that they seemed to be saving the good stuff for the farmers market. I used to split a Two Small Farms basket with a friend. TSF is always very fresh and the vegetables were very user friendly (lots of salad greens and strawberries), which was actually a drawback for me. Right now, I'm going solo with Mariquita's Mystery Thursday basket, mainly for the variety of unusual vegetables. You have to pick up, which could be a dealbreaker though.

How does the Mariquita Mystery Thursday basket work? I will probably try the Two Small Farms CSA first with the 4 week trial to see if it's not too much. I'm hoping they'll have mystery vegetables as I am always looking to expand my cooking repertoire. I'd like to try the Eatwell Farms program at some time too, since I've been curious to try pastured eggs for some time.

Basically, you email Julia with your contact info and what date you want a basket for. She emails you back to confirm. Then you pay with cash and pick up at the restaurant between 4.30 and 7pm on that Thursday. (Tip: Do not forget! My understanding is that if you forget, you get shuffled to the bottom of the list for future baskets.)

I share a TSF subscription which I love and get mystery boxes in the off season. The mystery boxes have a long waiting list. The regular CSA has more normal items like lettuce, but the mystery boxes always have at least one thing you've never seen before.

Try out Two Small Farms for the trial and if it's too much, find someone to share alternating weeks with. Even if I don't finish everything, I eat far more vegetables, and the price is outrageously low for the quality and freshness.

I've been doing Two Small Farms for about four years. One year when on hiatus from TSF, we did sign up for a trial wtih Eatwell. We didn't think their produce lasted as long and their boxes weren't as large for the same price. We went back to TSF. To be fair, it was the off season, so maybe the Eatwell box gets better later in Spring/Summer.

I have been using Eating With The Seasons for three years now and LOVE them. They are a family-run CSA started by two sisters who grew up on their father's farm. They offer organic produce and other local offerings such as grassfed meats, honey, olive oil, herbs, etc. Each week I get an email with a list of available produce and products and get to "shop" from the list to fill my own bag and plan weekly menus (no more "mystery boxes"!). They deliver to various drop-off points in the Bay Area. Check out their website here: http://www.eatwiththeseasons.com.

I tried Eating with the Seasons and thought it was no better than shopping at Safeway. Especially compared to Two Small Farms. Two Small Farms delivfers impeccable produce - amazingly fresh, generous in quantity and the families who manage it are nicer than any of the people with whom I interacted at EWTS. I also get a share from Full Circle Farms in Sunnyvale. Their produce is also amazing, but the quantities are really small for the money, so the value isn't as apparent. The other issue with them is that they don't deliver, so if you don't live nearby, it's a haul to get there -- and they only allow pick-up during the evening rush hours (4-7).